LNP leader David Crisafulli reveals candidates for Redlands, Cairns and Thuringowa

LNP leader David Crisafulli has fired the starter’s gun on the 2024 state election – pledging to deliver on his promise to run women in half of the 14 most winnable seats for the party at next year’s poll.

LNP leader David Crisafulli has fired the starter’s gun on the 2024 state election – declaring he’s determine to deliver on his pledge to run women in half of the 14 most winnable seats for the party at the looming poll.

In what is the earliest rollout of LNP candidates ahead of an election, the party will on Sunday unveil a trio of contenders who will contest the must-win battleground electorates of Cairns, Thuringowa, and Redlands.

All three of the candidates are women – putting Mr Crisafulli on track to meet his commitment that the LNP will run female candidates in seven of the 14 most marginal government-held seats.

In the far north, Yolonde Entsch – a small-business owner and the founding director of charity Wheels of Wellness – will fly the flag for the LNP as their candidate in Cairns.

Natalie Marr – a former councillor and chair of Townsville’s Crime Stoppers Volunteer Committee – will make another attempt at winning Thuringowa after falling short at the 2020 state election.

LNP Leade David Crisafulli with candidates (from left) Rebecca Young (Redlands), Natalie Marr (Thuringowa) and Yolonde Entsch (Cairns). Picture: Steve Pohlner

And in the electorate of Redlands, Rebecca Young – a business owner and recent past president of the region’s Chamber of Commerce – will try to clinch the marginal electorate for the LNP.

At the 2020 election, the party fielded men to run in both Cairns and Redlands.

Mr Crisafulli insisted all the party’s candidates for the October 2024 poll would be preselected on merit, and said he was determined to follow through on his pledge on female candidates.

“I promised reform of the party and we’ve done that,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“I’ve promised early preselections and we’ve done that.

“And I’ve promised the most reflective group of candidates we’ve ever seen before and I’m determined to do that as well.

“That involves more young people, more women, more people from small and family business, and more people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

“And we’re going to do that by identifying quality people and then getting the grassroots members behind them.”

The Labor government routinely attacks the LNP over female representation in their party room, where women make up six of the 34 MPs.

Ms Entsch, whose husband is federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, will have to overcome a 5.6 per cent margin to wrest the seat of Cairns off Labor’s Michael Healy.

“My work has been focused on empowering communities to engage and act, which is precisely the approach I will take as a candidate and an MP should I be fortunate enough to be elected,” she said.

Ms Marr said she wanted to stand up for the north of the state so that youth crime in Townsville was dealt with.

When she last ran in Thuringowa in 2020, she lost to Labor’s Aaron Harper – who reclaimed the seat for a third term with a margin of 3.25 per cent.

Ms Young meanwhile will have to overcome Labor MP Kim Richards’ margin of 3.9 per cent to take the seat of Redlands.

“As a small-business owner and mother of four I have a lived understanding of the pressures being placed on households and businesses,” she said.

The LNP will need to win 13 seats at the October 2024 election to claim majority government.